New York, NY – February 13, 2012 – Last night, AMC’s mid-season premiere of “The Walking Dead” became the strongest telecast for any drama in basic cable history against key demos including 5.4 million adults 18-49 and 4.4 million adults 25-54. These results shatter the previous record, which was held by the series two premiere from October 16th with increases of +12% and +6% respectively. The show delivered 8.1 million viewers for its 9pm premiere and delivered 10.1 million viewers for the night (9pm premiere and 11pm and 12:30 am encores). At 10pm, AMC also premiered its newest unscripted series, “Comic Book Men,” executive produced by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy), Charlie Corwin’s Original Media (LA Ink, Storm Chasers, Swamp People) and Elyse Seiden (Red State). The series delivered 2 million total viewers.

“It is a great night for AMC. We’re thrilled to see this incredible record breaking response to ‘The Walking Dead,’ and ‘Comic Book Men’ is off to a strong start as well. Congratulations to the teams behind both of these shows,” said Charlie Collier, AMC’s president.

Following are the Key Nielsen Highlights:

Mid-season two premiere “The Walking Dead”

9pm airing – 5.2 HH rating with 8.1 million viewers

9pm airing – Adults 18-49 delivered 5.4 million viewers

9pm airing – Adults 25-54 delivered 4.4 million viewers

9 pm, 11 pm and 12:30 am airings – 10.1 million viewers

“The Walking Dead” is based on the comic book series written by Robert Kirkman and published by Image Comics. Glen Mazzara serves as series’ showrunner and executive producer. Kirkman, Gale Anne Hurd, David Alpert and Frank Darabont are executive producers with Greg Nicotero as co-executive producer. Season two of the critically acclaimed global hit series continues to deliver the strongest telecasts for any drama in basic cable history against Adults 18-49, as well as, top international pay-TV ratings on Fox International Channels’ (FIC) major markets.

At 10pm, the network premiered its newest unscripted series “Comic Book Men,”

Premiere of “Comic Book Men”

10pm airing – 1.3 HH rating with 2 million viewers

10pm airing – Adults 18-49 delivered 1.3 million viewers

10pm airing – Adults 25-54 delivered 1.1 million viewers

Executive produced by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma, Chasing Amy), Charlie Corwin’s Original Media (LA Ink, Storm Chasers, Swamp People) and Elyse Seiden (Red State), the six-part series dives deep into fanboy culture by following the antics in and around master fanboy Kevin Smith’s New Jersey comic shop, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, where both staff and customers geek out over mind-blowing pop culture artifacts and the legends behind them.

Leading the crew behind the Secret Stash counter are moody manager Walt, uber-nerd Mike, career slacker Brian, and Ming, the shop’s go-to whipping boy. As the team buys, sells and discovers the treasures of the comic collecting world, they share all the juicy details with Kevin through their outrageous podcast, which is woven throughout the series.

Jim Halterman is a freelance writer who spends his days interviewing the top tier of talent and creative forces in the entertainment world and, because he's that kind of guy, he gives away stuff, too!. Follow him on TVFanatic.com, XFinityTV's LGBT site, TheBacklot.com & more! (Photo: With Tyler Hoechlin and Tyler Posey, Comic Con, San Diego, CA, July 24, 2014)